FORMER Corrie star Beverley Callard is one of three top actresses set to appear at Felixstowe's Spa Pavilion in a smash hit comedy making a national tour.

FORMER Corrie star Beverley Callard is one of three top actresses set to appear at Felixstowe's Spa Pavilion in a smash hit comedy making a national tour.

Mum was the word for the staff at the seafront venue as they were sworn to secrecy over the production until contracts were all signed and sealed.

And Mum's the Word is the name of the play, which has already opened to rave reviews and looks set to be a sell-out when it reaches Suffolk.

It will be at the Spa for just one night on Tuesday, October 22, at 7.30pm.

Mum's the Word is a brutally honest and wickedly funny comedy about children and how they change your life forever.

It will star Beverley Callard, who for ten years was Liz McDonald in Coronation Street and is now appearing as a mum with a difference in BBC 2's Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps.

Also appearing will be Julia Watson, who did five series as Dr Baz in BBC1's rating-topping Casualty and has also had theatre roles as diverse as Lady Chiltern in An Ideal Husband and a Kit-Kat Club Girl in Cabaret, and also Tina Malone, best known as Mo McGee in Channel 4's Brookside.

Spa general manager Paul Ryan said the theatre was thrilled to be hosting the comedy, a Clear Channel Entertainment production.

"It has been described as a 'blisteringly funny and perceptive piece of theatre', and is a passionate illustration of the joys and agonies of parenting," he said.

"If you're a mother or a father or even loosely related to one, this hysterical funny and poignant show will touch you in some way.

"This is a brutally honest, wickedly funny and exceptionally touching play about parenting – and we've all put someone through it!"

Directed by Wayne Harrison, Mum's the Word received excellent reviews after its premiere in Glasgow, with veteran comedian Billy Connolly describing it has "very good, very funny", and the Daily Mail praising it as "a hilarious coup de theatre that you have to see for yourself".

The show will be touring the countries premier venues, and other tour dates confirmed so far include the Regent Theatre in Stoke-On-Trent, the Manchester Opera House, Liverpool Empire, the Alexandra Theatre in Birmingham, and The Grand Opera House in York.

"The show will be running for a week or two in the major city venues, but as a special event for the people of Suffolk, Clear Channel will be staging the show for one night only at the Spa Pavilion," said Mr Ryan.

"This represents a breakthrough for the Spa Pavilion, and for Felixstowe, as it means that leading producers are starting to see the Spa as a venue capable of staging such major pieces."

The 913-seater venue is owned by Suffolk Coastal council but managed by Clear Channel Entertainment, the world's leading producer and promoter of live entertainment and producer of shows such as Chicago, Grease and the new West End version of The King and I.

GIVE THEM CREDIT . . .

n Beverley Callard's TV appearances include Emmerdale Farm, Coronation Street twice, as June Dewhurst and Liz McDonald, Will You Love Me Tomorrow and Hinge and Bracket.

n Julia Watson's credits include Casualty, Lovejoy and Dempsey and Makepeace.

n Tina Malone has been in Brookside, Dinner Ladies, Nice Guy Eddie and Common as Muck.